424: Can't wait any longer!

Great Qin Press.

It was afternoon, and a carriage slowly stopped at the main entrance.

A thin old man slowly alighted from the carriage with the help of the coachman.

The coachman then scurried a few steps, pompously arriving at the gatehouse and shouting, “Dr. Qin, Master Chunyu is here! Quickly inform your manager to come and receive him!”

The gatekeeper, who had been leisurely lying on a chair, showed a hint of displeasure when he saw the coachman, but when he heard the coachman announce his master's identity, he sprang to his feet.

“Please wait a moment, both of you. I will go and inform them!”

He then dashed inside.

“Chief, this is bad! That Chunyu Yue is here again!” The gatekeeper leaned against the door, panting.

Baixiao Sheng heard him and impatiently waved his hand, “Old Ma, you go.”

Old Ma slowly got up, also looking displeased.

“Chief, this time Chunyu Yue himself has come,” the gatekeeper reminded him.

Before Baixiao Sheng could speak, Old Ma scoffed, “It’s fine. I’ve seen officials bigger than him.”

Then Old Ma walked towards the door.

As soon as the gatekeeper turned around, he hadn’t walked many steps before he saw that Chunyu Yue and the coachman had already entered the courtyard.

“That old man is Chunyu Yue,” the gatekeeper reminded Old Ma.

Old Ma saw this and, with a smile, extended his hand to greet him, “Welcome, welcome, Master Chun! It is truly an honor for our newspaper to have you visit!”

Immediately, the hand he had just extended was quickly withdrawn and replaced with a bow.

Chunyu Yue glanced at him sideways and said indifferently, “My surname is Chunyu.”

“My apologies, I am uneducated. Please don’t mind me, Master Chun,” Old Ma said with a sincere smile, revealing two rows of white teeth.

“Who are you?” Chunyu Yue did not want to dwell on it and asked directly.

“I am the person in charge here. You can just call me Little Ma,” Old Ma said cheerfully, cupping his hands in a bow.

“It has been more than ten days since I submitted my article to your newspaper. Why has it not been published yet?” Chunyu Yue asked displeased.

“Oh, Master Chun, please come this way first, and I will explain it to you in detail.” Old Ma led him to a nearby table and had him sit down.

He then explained, “Master Chun, you are a Dr. Qin, so your article is naturally excellent, beyond a doubt!”

He then looked troubled, “But… we have regulations here.”

“Master, when this humble one came before, he told me the same thing,” the coachman beside him complained indignantly.

Chunyu Yue waved his hand, then looked directly at Old Ma, “Could you enlighten this old man, what exactly are these regulations?”

“Of course.” Old Ma nodded, “Master, think about it, we can’t just publish an article just because someone asks us to, can we? Of course, I’m not talking about you. We all know your article is good, but no matter who it is, they have to follow the rules, right?”

“That is natural. Without rules, nothing can be accomplished,” Chunyu Yue nodded.

Old Ma smiled at this, “Master Chun, we have three procedures here. First, Editor Wang here is responsible for discerning the quality of articles, and only then can excellent articles be sent to the second procedure!

But as you know, the Great Qin Daily is so popular now, at least tens of thousands of articles are submitted to us every day. Editor Wang reads them day and night, but he can’t get through them all!”

“Is he the only one responsible?” Chunyu Yue asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hehe, we just started, and our financial resources are weak, so it’s difficult to recruit more staff for a while,” Old Ma chuckled, the answer self-evident.

“What about my article then? What stage is it at now?” Chunyu Yue asked.

“Hmm, there are too many articles, I still need to check…” Old Ma looked a bit awkward.

Chunyu Yue frowned, and Old Ma quickly explained, “Master, please wait a little longer, it should be soon. You also know that the people below have it tough. They can’t even take care of their wives and children, burying themselves in their work all day, but they simply can’t keep up with the sheer volume of articles!”

Chunyu Yue’s anger grew at these words, but he also understood that he couldn’t stoop to their level, so he could only say, “I have a small sum of money here. I will donate it to your press, hoping you can recruit more people and publish better articles.”

Old Ma’s face lit up with joy, then he smiled broadly, “Master Chun is a great talent! I will accept it on behalf of all members of the press! Rest assured, I will urge your article along and ensure it is published early, so that the people of Xianyang can admire your work, Master Chun.”

“It’s not that urgent. I just want to know if you can give me a specific deadline?” Chunyu Yue asked with a cold face.

“Well…” Old Ma looked troubled, then sighed, “Master Chun, I am a man of little influence. I can only guarantee that this article enters the second review. As for what comes after, it’s not under my control, and I am powerless to help!”

The coachman could no longer hold back and cursed, “What nonsense! You’re just delaying! The other day, I saw someone who submitted with me, how come his was published, but our Master still has to wait?”

“Stop talking nonsense, and slap yourself,” Chunyu Yue said with a furious expression.

“Yes!” The coachman slapped himself repeatedly, and in just a few blows, his face was red.

Although Old Ma’s position was not high in reality, he had seen all sorts of situations. He still smiled at Chunyu Yue and said, “Master Chun, what this person said is actually true, but Master, think about it, as a Dr. Qin of our Great Qin, how can your article not be placed on the front page? Putting it in a forgotten corner would be like burying a pearl, wouldn’t it?”

Chunyu Yue thought carefully and found that it seemed to make sense, but the question was when his article could be published?

Just as he was about to ask again, a man hurried over.

“Chief Bai,” Old Ma looked at the newcomer with confusion.

Baixiao Sheng bowed first, “This must be Master Chunyu. I am Baixiao Sheng, the person in charge of the press.”

Chunyu Yue nodded in response.

Baixiao Sheng continued, “I am truly sorry, Master Chunyu. I haven’t been at the press these past few days, and I didn’t expect such a big mess to occur.

You are one of the few great literary figures of our Great Qin. It is an honor that we could not have dreamed of in three lifetimes for you to submit to our press. Who knew that the literary level of the people below was so low that they couldn’t even complete the process after so many days? It is truly our fault!

Master Chunyu, rest assured, that Editor Wang was a temporary worker we hired, and he has just been dismissed by me. Your article will be published on the front page of the Great Qin Daily tomorrow!”

Chunyu Yue was quite surprised to hear this.

But Old Ma looked astonished, “Chief, but tomorrow’s newspaper content has already been sent out of the city for printing! By now, hundreds of thousands of copies must have been printed! If we change the content now, all of those will be wasted! What a huge loss that would be!”

Baixiao Sheng’s face showed displeasure, and he sternly rebuked, “No matter how great the loss, it must be changed! Master Chunyu’s article must be presented to the people of Xianyang as soon as possible!”

“Yes, yes, yes, I’ll go notify them right away,” Old Ma nodded his head like a pestle, looking pained.

“Actually, there’s no need to be so hasty. This old man can also wait a bit,” Chunyu Yue also tried to persuade him at this moment. If so much paper was wasted because of him alone, he would feel a little guilty.

“Not a bit of waiting!” Baixiao Sheng’s words were decisive and brooks no argument.

“Wh-what?” Chunyu Yue listened, somewhat confused, not understanding what he meant.

“It’s nothing, Master Chunyu, please relax. Today, it must be changed whether we like it or not. Your article must be published tomorrow, and it must be the front page!

With you, our sales will surely explode!”